TADD DAMERON

Tadley Ewing Peake “Tadd” Dameron (pianist, composer, arranger) was born on February 21, 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio and passed away on March 8, 1965 at the age of 48.

Dameron grew up with music all around him, his mother first taught him to play piano, “not to read, but by memory.” But, it was Dameron’s older brother, Caesar, a saxophonist, who got his brother interested in jazz by listening to the records of the big bands of the 1930’s like Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and the Casa Loma band that was playing unique arrangements at the time.

Cleveland jazz musician Andy Anderson said he first heard Dameron in the 1930s when Caesar brought his kid brother to a nightclub, and asked if the boy could sit in with the Snake White Band. Anderson said he was amazed when Tadd started playing piano. Anderson said, “He’s got ten fingers and all of themread more...